


Faster Than the Internet

by angellwings



Series: Who Needs Google? [1]
Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Friendship, Romance, s02e01: And the Drowned Book, s02e02: And the Broken Staff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-04
Packaged: 2018-04-30 00:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5144339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angellwings/pseuds/angellwings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While working solo cases Jacob learns he has one resource that's definitely better than Google. Set before, during, and after "And the Drowned Book" and starts during the three months our little LiTs were apart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Faster Than the Internet

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is based on a head canon going around on tumblr that basically stated Jacob and Cassandra would help each other out on their solo cases occasionally and that scene in the premiere where Stone states Cassandra is "faster than the internet". I definitely got the feeling there was a history there that was more than what we saw of them in season one. I set out to write it but, as per usual with my favorite dorks who should be in love, it quickly escalated into what you'll find below. I had no control over it. I was basically just alone for the ride. Hope you like it! Enjoy!  
> angellwings

Jacob Stone had no idea what he was looking at right now, but if he didn’t figure it out he’d be trapped in this room for basically all eternity. So, he might need to figure it out. Quickly.

It was an old metal model of circles and spheres that took up the entire room. It was all connected and looked adjustable, like it turned or rotated. So, he assumed that was his key to getting out. Solving the puzzle unlocked his exit. His eyes darted around the room for clues on what he was supposed to solve and they settled on a Greek word carved into the stone wall behind the large model.

 _Epouranios_.

Of course, spelled in the original Greek. Not the modern lettering that was more recognizable. Literally it meant, “of Heaven” and it was typically translated as “heavenly.” Though sometimes “celestial” could be used instead. His eyes widened as an idea struck him. Spheres and circles and lines that were “celestial”? Planets! They had to be planets! There was one large sphere, one medium sphere, and two smaller spheres. They were all placed in a straight line with. Too few for all the planets.

Now he was confused again. He went back to looking for clues and stepped toward the model carefully. Stepping closer allowed him to see something he hadn’t noticed before. More Greek. This time it was on the floor surrounding the model.

_Mathematike Syntaxis._

Mathematike translated simply was “learning” but contextually it had been adapted for an entire field of study. But pair it with Syntaxis and he was lost. He felt like he should know it. The Librarian would know it. He was supposed to be one of those, wasn’t he? He pulled out his phone and had the urge to Google it. It was important to keep those words together. He could tell they meant something specific. But when he glanced at his phone he huffed and glared at it. He didn’t have enough signal for the internet. Stupid stone room.

Two bars was barely enough to send a—

He grinned to himself as the thought first struck him. Mathematike. _Math_.

Cassandra. He should have just enough to signal to reach out to her. Sure, they hadn’t talked in a while. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to her…he just…he didn’t know what to say. The three of them had parted awkwardly. Not on bad terms necessarily but you couldn’t label them “good terms” either.

He took a deep breath and nervously debated what to say. He didn’t want to sound too brisk but this was sort of an emergency. He grimaced and typed the first thing that came to mind. No over thinking it.

_“Hey, Cassie, I need a favor. What do planets and Mathematike Syntaxis have to do with each other?”_

Not even five seconds later he received a lengthy text summing up something called “The Earth Centered Universe” from a book called _Mathematike Syntaxis_  by Ptolemy. He had to read her explanation through 3 or 4 times before he even remotely understood it. He couldn’t quite picture it. He glanced between the text and the model with a frown.  Well he knew what his clue meant but he still didn’t know how to position the model.

His phone dinged and, almost as if she’d read his mind, he found Cassandra had sent him a quick photograph of hand drawn diagram explaining her words. He smirked and nodded. _Now_ he saw it. He positioned the spheres and the circles according to the image Cassandra had sent him and as he slid the last sphere into place numerous clicks and pops sounded around the room as portion of the wall fell away to reveal a long corridor.

He chuckled softly and nodded as he ran toward it. There may be four Librarians, but there was only one Cassie. As soon as he reached the literal light at the end of the tunnel he texted her a reply.

“ _With friends like you who needs Google? Thanks.”_

She responded with smiling and winking emojis and then added one word.

_“Anytime.”_

He hadn’t really planned to take her up on that. Honestly, he thought it was a one-time deal. But two cases later he found himself staring at a wall with a triangle made up of numbers covering it. The numbers could be pulled off the wall and moved but for the life of him he didn’t know where to move them. He was fairly certain that figuring out whatever he was supposed to do would reveal a lost painting he’d been trying to find since he started working for the Library seven months ago. He needed to solve this. He snapped a picture of it and texted it to Cassandra. He hadn’t texted her since that last case and he worried she might think he was only using her for her brilliant brain. But she responded just as quickly as she had the last time.

_“Pascal’s Triangle. Each number is the sum of the two numbers immediately above it. Your numbers are out of order.”_

Of course! He thought as he started to do the math to rearrange the numbers. He paused as he moved one and shook his head at himself. Well, not of course. Not for him. He never would have thought of that. Fifteen minutes later he was leaving with his prize when he got another text from Cassandra.

“ _Did it work?”_

He stashed the painting in the crate he’d brought with him before he responded.

_“Like a charm. I feel kinda bad though. That’s twice now I’ve had to ask you for help.”_

_“Don’t worry about it. Just promise you’ll help me too.”_

“ _Not even a question.”_

And it wasn’t. He’d help however she needed.

And it turned out she needed him just a few days later.

_“I’m assuming you speak/read/write German?”_

_“Ja ich spreche Deutsch.”_ He typed out with a grin.

_“What?”_

He sighed and laughed softly. _“Yes.”_

_“Good, can you translate this? I’m so lost.”_

She sent him a picture of a manuscript. He could see detailed plans for a device of some kind with instructions scribbled out in old cursive German. His brow furrowed in concern as he read the instructions. This was a device meant for blocking out the sun or harnessing its power to cause explosions. What kind of people invented these things? He texted back a loose but accurate translation of the instructions as quickly as he could.

_“Oh! Perfect! Thank you!”_

He tried to go back to the folio he had been reading before but as the minutes dwindled away so did his focus. She hadn’t said anything else. His leg bounced nervously under the table and he ran an anxious hand through his hair. He glared at his phone and willed her to text him again. Was she okay? Did she stop it? He _needed_ to know. He grabbed his phone and quickly texted her again.

“ _Cassandra?”_

_“O;n gunr@ ygsbks!”_

He blinked at his screen and then quirked a brow. Well, she was alive if she texted him back, at least.

 _“Sorry!”_ came another text less than a minute later. _“Couldn’t see my screen! It was covered in ash. We saved the world, though! …again.”_

“ _Just another day, then?”_

He received the winky face emoji first and then…

_“Just another day. Thanks for the help!”_

_“Anytime.”_

A few days later, he was still in the research phase of his next case and had planned to spend the day in the Library researching. It was rare for him to spend more than a few hours in the Library these days so he was actually looking forward to it when he stepped into the Annex that morning.

“Ah! Mr. Stone, you just missed Ms. Cillian,” Jenkins said with a nod.

Jacob’s eyes widened and he tried not to grin, but he couldn’t help it. “I did?”

“Yes, _but_ she left you this,” Jenkins told him as he handed him a wrapped box. “She said to tell you she’s very glad you speak such good German.”

Jacob smiled bashfully and hesitantly accepted the box. For some reason he felt like he had to explain. “I-uh—helped her with a thing—a translation.”

Jenkins gave him a bored glance and then nodded before turning his attention back to his inventory list.

Okay, maybe he didn’t have to explain. He took the box and then headed into The Library. He waited until he was sure no one was around before he found a worktable, sat down, and opened the box. He was curious as to what sort of gift Cassandra would get him. She was so quirky that he had to admit, he was a little worried. He breathed a sigh of relief and smirked slightly as he lifted a white leather cuff out of the box. Not exactly what he would have chosen for himself, but he actually liked it. It was different yet enough like what he usually wore that he wouldn’t feel awkward wearing it. And a bright color was so much like Cassandra. He snapped it around his wrist and then stared at it for a long moment with a soft half smile. He pulled out his phone to text her his thanks but decided against it. That hardly seemed like an appropriate way to repay her gesture.

He spent the rest of the day both researching and trying to decide what to do for Cassandra. He got a lot done for his case, but came up with nothing for her. The next day he had Jenkins dial up the door for a small town in Ireland. His Clippings Book was sending him to a tiny town with an old castle that was supposedly haunted. The story in his book had spoken of a young man who’d been injured there a few days prior. He claimed he’d been pushed off the old ruined tower of the castle. Jake’s research indicated it was most likely _not_ a ghost. Jenkins had suggested artifacts that would turn a person invisible. It was logical and neat.

He was walking through town when came to a small local craft fair. It was quaint and, honestly, some of these craftsmen were very talented. He reached one tent that housed home made jewelry. Normally he wouldn’t have stopped but something glimmered in the light and caught his attention at just the right moment. It was a brooch. It reminded him of some of the things he’d seen Cassandra wear. She seemed to be fond of pins and buttons. This one was a bit larger than most of the things he’d seen here wear but it featured three ponies of different sizes in both silver and gold shaded metals. He couldn’t explain why, but it called to him. He just knew that she’d love it. He purchased the brooch and put it away for safekeeping just before all hell broke loose.

Someone was terrorizing the fair but no one could see who. It looked like his “ghost” was on the loose. In all the chaos of the case he forgot all about the brooch until he was literally running home through the Back Door.

“Mr. Stone, still alive I see,” Jenkins said dryly as he sorted through the books on the table. “How’d it go?”

He wordlessly handed Jenkins a carved wooden idol on a necklace made of old twine and then threw his bag down on the chair. He heard something clink and then remembered what he’d done.

“Oh!” He said as he snatched it out of the bag. “Can you, uh, give this to Cassie for me?”

Jenkins furrowed his brow at the rumpled paper bag and accepted it hesitantly. “You know, you could give this to her yourself.”

“Is she here?” Jacob asked, a little too eagerly.

“No, but she should be wrapping up her case shortly. I’m sure she would quite enj—“

Jacob groaned as a familiar ding sounded inside of his bag. Not his phone this time. His Clippings Book. “Not this time, Jenkins. Could you pass it along?”

Jenkins sighed and nodded. “Of course. Any particular message you’d like to go along with it?”

Jacob thought for a moment and then blushed and shook his head as no words came to him. Well, no quality words at least. “Nah, just tell her it’s a thank you. Will ya?”

Jenkins quirked a brow at him and gave the younger man a ghost of a smirk. “The Master of Art and Culture is at a loss for words?”

“I just got back from a case, okay?”

Jenkins chuckled but humored him. “Yes, I’m certain it has nothing to do with the girl.”

And then Jake was off again to work on another case. No time to wonder if Cassandra liked the brooch. No time to contact the Annex at all really. No signal on his phone to even send an SOS text if he’d needed to. Thankfully, he didn’t. Things kept building after that. Case, after case, after case. He barely saw Jenkins let alone Cassandra or Ezekiel or Eve.

In a quiet moment during a case he’d decided to just stay over at hotel. He was honestly too tired to trudge back to the Back Door. He’d settled down in his room and turned on his small laptop he kept with him. Only a few minutes after he’d connected to the wi-fi and opened his usual programs the tone that indicated a video chat sounded from his computer. His eyes widened when he saw Cassandra’s name on the screen. Instinctually, he ran a hand through his hair and over his face to straighten himself up before he clicked the button to answer the call. He was not preening for her. He was just…

What _was_ he doing?

“Jacob!”

And then suddenly there she was. Beaming at him with a huge smile and sparkling eyes. He smiled warmly at her and nodded. “Cassie.”

He recognized her surroundings as The Annex and nearly let out an immature whine. Of course, the one night he decided not to go back to the Annex _she_ would be there.

“Thank you for the brooch!” She said happily. “I love it!”

“Least I could do,” he said with a grin.

“Where’d you get it?” She asked. “It’s beautiful.”

“Craft fair in Ireland,” he told her with a nod. “You would have loved it. There was a local lady who knitted sweaters for cats.”

She giggled and then nodded enthusiastically. “Oh I definitely would have loved that! How sweet!”

“It was a pretty interesting case too. Kid in town found an old Druid totem necklace that turned him invisible. He had everyone thinking there were ghosts in town.”

She rolled her eyes and spoke dryly. “Creative.”

Jacob laughed and nodded. “Completely cliché, but that necklace was a work of art. You know if you disregarded how dangerous it was.”

“I had a case in Florence that made me think of you,” she told him. “The buildings were gorgeous. You would have been in heaven,” she said honestly. “That’s where I got the cuff. And _also_ we’re not banned form any museums in _that_ Italian city.”

She smirked at him and he laughed lightly in response.

“That is an accomplishment for us.”

“It really is,” she said as her tone and her expression faded into a very serious expression.

“You okay?” He asked worriedly.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah. I just…” She stopped and took a deep fortifying breath before she continued. “Sometimes I really miss this.”

“Miss what?” He asked.

“Us,” she told him with a sigh. “All of us. And, of course, yo—“

There was a loud crash from behind her and her head immediately turned toward it as Jenkins appeared in the frame.

“Ms. Cillian, I need an extra pair of hands in the Large Collection Annex,” Jenkins said urgently. “The Flying Saucer has crashed into the Fountain of Youth.”

“The Flying—but I thought you said it was never aliens?” Cassandra asked with raised eyebrows.

“ _Of course_ it’s never aliens. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be a flying saucer,” Jenkins said cryptically.

Cassandra gave Jake a side-glance and grinned before she responded. “Oh-Kay,” she said slowly. “I’ll be right there, Mr. Jenkins.” She turned to Jake with a small smile. “Sorry about that,” she told him. “I should probably go. He sounded a bit frazzled. He’s been weirdly stressed lately.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Jacob said as he tried to hide his disappointment. “I’ll, um, catch up with you later.”

She nodded with a soft smile. “You better.”

The call disconnected and he sat and stared at the screen for a few moments afterward. Was she going to say what he thought she was going to say? That she missed him? Well, he couldn’t say he hadn’t missed her. In fact, he was quite certain he _had_ missed her. A lot. More than he should have, really. More than he realized he could. He shook the thoughts away and then decided it was probably past time for him to get some sleep. He was just tired. That’s all it was.

Only a good night’s sleep didn’t burry it. No, in fact as the weeks went on the small ache that had formed after that first moment he’d asked for her help grew. It caused him to ask her for help when, honestly, he didn’t need it. He just wanted an excuse to hear from her. To confirm that she was okay. Plus, texting Cassandra typically resulted in an answer that was faster and more accurate than Google. Before he knew it though, it had been three months since the last time they’d been in the same room. _Three months_. How had it been that long? How had any of them let the separation last that long? What had even caused them to separate to begin with? He couldn’t remember anymore.  

He rushed back from a case, left his artifact with Jenkins, and then did a quick change to head back out for his next case. After this he needed to take a break. This was his fourth case in a row. Time to breathe would be nice. And maybe…maybe he could catch up with the others while he paused to breathe. His mind flashed to a certain red head but he forced himself to push it aside. Not the time. He had work to do. In New York. Yet another city that he’d love to stop and explore when he had the time, but he never seemed to have the time.

His eyes scanned the crowd as he picked up a museum guide and spotted a brilliant flash of red. His eyes followed the flash intuitively and he smiled as the group a few feet away came into focus. Everyone was here. He made his way toward them and wasn’t surprised to find that the Clippings Book had brought them all here. Without even having to think about it he fell into step beside of Cassandra as they rushed inside to get out of the storm that had suddenly turned up.

A few minutes later, despite his earlier confusion as to why they’d all split up, he found himself willingly splitting off from Cassandra, Baird, Ezekiel, and Flynn. They’d worked alone this long already. It was too awkward to change it now. Plus, bringing it up would mean they’d have to talk about why it happened. And Jacob preferred to play those feelings close to his chest. So, he resigned himself to working solo on this one.

Until he found the table full of antique chess sets…

He tried to figure it out on his own. Weighing the densities with his hands, trying to pin point the minerals and the types of stone, but they were all too similar. He’d never narrow them down this way. He spotted beakers and water on a worktable in the corner. He could test the displacement the pieces caused to determine what they were made of, but that would mean calculated the standards of measurement or trying to find them online. Which would take a very long time for him. He sighed and pulled out his phone to search for it…or maybe to text—

Wait. No. He didn’t have to Google it or text her. She was _here_. She was upstairs with the sonar. Wasn’t that what she said? He smirked and walked off to find the stairs. He could have looked it up, sure. Or he could’ve stayed downstairs and texted her. But…what was the fun in that? The ache in his chest lightened as he climbed the stairs. Maybe he just wanted to see her. Was that so bad? No, definitely not, he told himself.

“Oh good,” he said as he spotted her and entered the room. “Hey, did you find what you looking for?”

“Um, maybe, I don’t know. It’s--”

He didn’t mean to interrupt her but if he didn’t he was almost certain he’d forget what he came in the room for in the first place in favor of just…talking to her. He urgently grabbed a notebook off the table, handed it to her, and started talking again. “Listen, do me a favor, would you? Can you write down the, uh, relative densities of ivory, onyx, gypsum—any, any—any stone you might think somebody’d make a chess piece out of.”

“You could look this up on your own.”

The soft way she said it got his attention and he looked up at her with a grin. “Yeah, but your faster than the internet.” While answering her he noticed the brooch. He hadn’t seen it before but there it was, pinned on the collar of her shirt. He looked away and resisted the urge to smile brightly at her as he continued. “You know that.”

He dared to look back up at her with another grin and for a long moment that was all they did. They grinned at each other secretively. Both remembering everything they’d helped the other with on previous cases and everything that had transpired between them over the last three months. Cassandra continued to grin at him as she sat down and got to work. Seeing her now though reminded him of their last actual conversation from that video chat. She’d been trying to tell him something when Jenkins interrupted. He quirked a brow at her and started to ask about it when Ezekiel barged into the room.

So much for that. But then he was standing there, writing notes for Ezekiel and watching Cassandra write out notes for him and the question that had haunted him earlier returned. Why had they stopped working together? Why had it taken them three months to run into each other again? He made the mistake of voicing that. Because voicing that led to him remembering exactly _why_ they’d stopped. Too much arguing. Too many disagreements that put Cassandra in the middle. They were all too different and their personalities clashed. Not to mention, Jones tendency to go off book put both himself and Cassandra at risk a little too much for Jake’s taste.

“Guys, guys, guys, we’re doing it again,” Cassandra said as she interrupted Jacob’s argument with Jones. She looked exasperated and sad but not angry. Just…resigned. “We worked so well together at the Library. Why couldn’t we do it when we were on our own?” She paused and then continued thoughtfully. “Something was missing.”

They fell silent after that as Jake finished his notes for Ezekiel and Cassandra finished her notes for him, each thinking about Cassandra’s words. She was right. Something was missing. He felt maybe as though there was too much of a power struggle when it was just the three of them. He suspected that the thing missing…was their Guardian. But they didn’t really have time to talk about it at that particular moment. Jacob needed to grab the chess set before someone noticed he was in a part of the museum he shouldn’t be, Ezekiel needed to keep The Italian’s attention, and Cassandra needed to analyze the audio she’d collected from the storm. This all culminated in the three of them rushing downstairs to show Eve and Flynn whatever it was Cassandra had discovered in the storm and then finding out from Flynn that Prospero had somehow come to life.

Once again, there was no time to question it. Flynn and Eve went one way and the three of them headed back to The Annex to see Jenkins. The storm over New York was growing and practically unstoppable. In a flurry of talking and thinking and walking they came up with a plan that apparently involved an actual _sun_. Behind a door. Because, you know, The Library had one of those, apparently. As he was getting Judson’s mirror from the Annex Jenkins walked in from the Library and placed a cumbersome shiny suit on the table, complete with headgear.

Stone chuckled at the sight of it. “Kinda reminds me of one of those Jiffy Pop things.” Jenkins gave him a blank stare so Jacob cleared his throat awkwardly and attempted to explain. “They’re these foil things with popcorn in them that you put over a flame to—Never mind.”

“Funny that you mention popcorn, Mr. Stone,” Jenkins said with a small wry grin. “You’ll need to put that on.”

Jacob blinked at him in shock. “What?”

“It’s going to get a bit crispy in there when we open that door. We’ll need proper protective gear,” Jenkins explained. “That’s a fireproof suit. It’s the best I can do on short notice.”

Jacob quirked a brow at him. “You say that like that’s not _enough_.”

“In all likelihood, Mr. Stone, it may not be,” Jenkins said cryptically as he wandered off toward his lab.

Well, perfect, he thought to himself as he finished moving the mirror into the Library’s Corridor of Doors. Jenkins had already set up the Glass of Narcissus for him. He hurried back to the Annex and grabbed the suit off the table and then found his way upstairs to change. As he was putting on the suit over his pants and shirt Jenkins words replayed in his head.

It may not be enough.

He froze as he pulled the suspenders over his shoulders that were attached to the pants and stared at the jacket for a long moment. He and Jenkins could potentially be incinerated. That was a lovely thought. What if they were? What if this all went bad? Or what if everything else went according to plan and his part went bad? He’d spent a good portion of his life lying to the people in it. His family, his coworkers, his friends… _himself_. What would happen with all those lies if he were no longer around to keep them going? What would happen if he let some of his unresolved issues linger after he was long gone? What would happen to the things he’d wanted and had yet to achieve? In one moment everything could literally go up in a puff of smoke. He hesitantly slid the jacket on and buttoned it up. But, he’d been through worse though, right? He’d survived weaponized fairy tales and Morgan le Fay trying to blow up a high school. He could survive unleashing a sun.

Then again, the difference there was that he had been part of a team. The team wasn’t so much a team anymore. Was it?

He could feel himself starting to panic and swallowed it back. Not the time, he told himself. Focus on the task at hand. He took a deep breath and put the headgear on and then headed down the stairs. As he reached the bottom of the stairs he saw Ezekiel and Cassandra headed for the Back Door.

He wondered if they ever felt like this. This, as in a clenching panic that nagged you and told you maybe everything wouldn’t work out this time.  That maybe without the support of your former teammates this wouldn’t work. You wouldn’t make it. That maybe this was your last moment. He stopped them to ask where they were going. He needed a distraction for a moment, but the look on Cassandra’s face as he took off the headgear and she saw the suit…didn’t help. She looked just as worried as he felt. Even Jones looked worried. Jake didn’t think that was a good sign. He needed reassurance that even though he was on his own he could make it. So, in his own way, he asked them for it. They had been on their own for three months. They could handle this, couldn’t they? He would be _fine._ They were fine.

Right?

“I mean this—this is not gonna kill me.”

Cassandra’s response surprised him.

“But we weren’t fine,” she said as she met his eyes. She looked sincere and so concerned. So _very_ concerned. His chest started to ache again. “We weren’t okay I—I don’t even know why we went our separate ways.”

“It just happens to people,” Ezekiel said casually. It was an excuse. They all knew it.

“No,” Cassandra said adamantly. “It doesn’t. Not to us.” He felt her eyes on him the entire time. This wasn’t exactly the reassurance he’d been hoping for. Just then her tone changed, though, and when she spoke next he heard defiance in her voice. “It’s not happening.” He had a feeling she wasn’t referring to the three of them splitting up. She was referring to him and the reason he was wearing that ridiculous suit.

Before he could respond, her arms were around his neck and she was pressed against him in a hug with her cheek gently grazing his. Oh, okay, he thought. They were doing _this_ now? He couldn’t say he minded the hug. In fact, something about her words and the way she hugged him gave him more resolve than he’d had before. Maybe they hadn’t worked together in a while, but…they were still a team. Or they still _could be_ a team. They still had his back. _She_ had his back. That was good enough for now.

As she stepped back he met her eyes and gave her a small hopeful smile. “I’ll see you on the other side, Cassie.”

She returned his smile with a slight nod. “You better.”

He said goodbye to Jones and the three of them parted ways yet again. Someday, they’d have to stop doing that.

In the end it all worked out and the world, or at least the city of New York, was saved. They’d walked away without a scratch. Well, almost. If only he hadn’t had a not quite so bright moment and burned his hand. He’d returned to the Annex and sat by the Back Door to wait for the others and ice his hand. He was relieved that his part of the plan had gone smoothly. Now, he was just waiting anxiously for the others to return. He didn’t know why he was worried about everyone else. They were fine. He knew they were fine. But for some reason he felt as though he needed visual confirmation of it.

The Door opened and Cassandra stepped through first. A bit of the tension in his chest faded and the first thing he could think to do was compliment them on the storm dissipating. As they were headed to the doors to leave they all received a group text from Baird telling them what time to come back the next morning.

Cassandra’s brow furrowed. “Oh. We’re leaving.”

Ezekiel chuckled at her. “Were you planning to stay all night?”

She shrugged. “With Prospero on the loose I thought we might be pulling long hours. I mean he could be anywhere, couldn’t he?”

“We can’t operate on no sleep, Cassie,” Jacob told her with a small grin. He winced as he shifted the ice pack in his hand her eyes darted to it.

“Oh Jacob, what did you do?” She asked worriedly.

“I, uh—nothing, just a mishap with the suit,” He said as he blushed slightly in embarrassment. Hopefully, Jenkins would never utter a word of what actually happened to anyone.

“You should probably treat it,” she told him as she reached for his hand.

Ezekiel smirked at them before he said, “Since I’m not the type to nurse anyone back to health, I’m gonna let Cassandra take care of that. I’ve got the latest Doctor Who episode waiting for me on my DVR and a pizza on the way to my apartment.”

Stone rolled his eyes as Ezekiel sprinted out the door. Did that kid eat anything other than pizza?

“It’s not too bad,” Cassandra said slowly. “Definitely, had worse myself during a few… _experiments_ ,” she admitted vaguely. She spotted Jenkins’s lab out of the corner of her eye and nodded toward it. “Come on, Mr. Jenkins has a first aid kit.”

“Cassie, really, you don’t have to. I can wrap it when I get home,” he told her.

“Jacob, stop,” she told him with a small smile as he followed her into the lab. “It’s okay to let someone take care of _you_ for a change. It’s fine.”

She immediately found the first aid kit in a cabinet in the far corner and he wondered just how much time she’d spent with Jenkins during their hiatus. She seemed to know her way around his lab. He sat down on nearby stool as she came back over and opened the kit. She pulled out ointment, medical tape, and a rectangular bandage and then a roll of gauze. He watched her hands as she worked. She was quick and gentle and her touch was light. He’d been wincing every time he moved it or it brushed against something but since she’d started putting the ointment on he hadn’t winced once.

With her standing so close his eyes landed on the brooch again.

He cleared his throat nervously as she moved on to taping the bandage to the worst part of the burn. “You’re, uh, you’re wearing the brooch.”

She paused for a moment and looked up at him with a shy smile. “I told you I liked it. Did you not believe me?”

“No, no, I did. I just…we haven’t seen each other in so long I guess I assumed I’d never really _see_ you wearing it,” he said with an awkward chuckle. “It suits you.”

“Thank you,” she said as she continued to smile and then bit her bottom lip. “For the compliment and for giving it to me.”

“Thank _you_ for helping me out with all those cases,” He said with a smirk. “You got me out of quite a few scrapes.”

She gave him a disbelieving look and an amused smile as she wrapped the gauze around his hand. “You would’ve been fine. You’re a wonderful Librarian. You know that.”

“No, I don’t actually,” he told her honestly. “You saved my hide several times these last few months, Cassie. You’re brilliant.”

She blushed prettily and nodded. “Well, thank you.” She finished wrapping and then stepped back from him with a bright smile. “There,” she said. “All done.”

“Thanks,” he said with a smile as he absently played with a bit of the gauze.

“Well, I’m gonna go,” Cassandra said after an awkward quiet moment. “I’m suddenly feeling tired. I’ll, um, see you tomorrow, Jacob.”

He grinned a little at her and then nodded. “You better.”

She met his eyes and smiled with a light laugh before she gave him a small wave and then turned to leave.

He forgot he wanted to ask her about that video chat! “Cassandra!”

She immediately stopped and turned to face him with an alarmed expression. “What? What’s wrong?”

No, wait. That was…what if she didn’t even remember? What if she hadn’t been about to say what he thought she was going to say? He tried not to wince as he felt himself chickening out. “No, Nothing. I just, um, have a good night.”

She furrowed her brow at him and then nodded. “Oh, okay then.  You too.”

As soon as she left the room he groaned and lightly hit himself in the head in frustration. With his bad hand. _Ow._ For as high as he knew his IQ to be, sometimes he did really _stupid_ things.

The next morning as he was getting ready to leave his apartment and head back to the Annex he spotted the cuff Cassandra had given him on his nightstand. He smiled softly to himself and grabbed it along with his keys after he changed clothes. Time to go back to work. He tried to put the cuff on himself as he walked out to his car, but it hurt his burned hand too much to button it. He huffed in frustration and threw it into his passenger seat as he headed toward the Annex. He’d have to ask someone to help him with it. Because that wasn’t embarrassing at all.

The minute he walked through the door Cassandra spotted him from where she was helping Ezekiel set up for their briefing. She smiled and made her way toward him. She pointed to his hand as she approached.

“We should change that bandage,” she told him. “Good morning.”

“Mornin’, “ he said as she once again led him into Jenkins’s lab.

He got to work unwrapping his hand as he walked and then tossed the gauze so Cassandra could change the ointment and the bandage underneath it. While she held his bad hand he tried to focus on other things. All last night, his hand had tingled. Normally, he would have dismissed it as the burn, but it hadn’t started until after she’d bandaged his hand. He didn’t understand it. It’s not like she was actually holding his hand, not in that sense. She was inspecting it and treating it. Nothing more, nothing less. He pulled the cuff out of his pocket as she finished with the bandage and then went digging through the first aid kit for more gauze.

He placed it on the worktable next to him and the action seemed to divert Cassandra’s attention. She looked up and smiled softly at the cuff on the table.

“I was gonna wear it today,” he told her as she looked from the cuff to him. “But I can’t seem to get it on with my…” his sentence trailed off as he held up his newly re-bandaged hand.

“Here,” she said as she picked it up. “Let me.”

She carefully and gently snapped the cuff around his wrist below his good hand while smiling brightly the entire time. Her hands were brushing his while she helped him and his theory about the tingling was proved correct as his uninjured hand began to tingle too. It could only mean one thing. One thing he’d been trying not to think about since he’d first thought to text her months ago. He’d felt her absence more keenly than the others since they all split up and maybe he’d known why all along but after yesterday…

He could no longer lie to himself. He definitely had more than platonic feelings for Cassandra Cillian. It was those more than platonic feelings that gave him the urge to stand a little closer to her. It was those same feelings that caused him to start to lean in and close the distance between them. He watched her reaction the entire time. She was perfectly still, but there was an encouraging smile on her face. That had to mean he was on the right track. Was he really going to do this? Was he really going to kiss her right here in Jenkins’s lab?

“Tempus Fugit, Mr. Stone, Ms. Cill—“

No, apparently not. Jacob thought as Jenkins stepped into the lab and he and Cassandra instinctively jumped apart.

“Ah,” Jenkins said awkwardly as he respectfully turned his gaze to the floor. “The Briefing is about to begin. Do you need another moment to—“

“No, no. Thank you, Mr. Jenkins,” Cassandra said as a slight blush spread across her face. “We’ll be right there. I was just…helping Jacob with his hand.” She delicately placed a roll of gauze in his hand as Jenkins nodded and left. She took a deep breath and then smiled warmly at him. “We should probably go.”

“Yeah,” he said with a sigh.  The moment was gone and so was his bravery. Jenkins couldn’t have waited a few more minutes to barge in on them?

“We will definitely be talking about this later, though,” she told him. His eyes found her face again and grinned at the flirtatious smile she’d pointed at him.

He quirked a brow at her. “We will?” His voice had sounded much too eager to his own ears. That was mildly embarrassing.

She giggled and nodded.  “You know, when we’re not racing to stop a Fictional Magician from finding his all powerful staff.”

“Right, of course,” he said with a chuckle. “Looking forward to it,” he told her with a quick wink.

“Me too,” she replied with a grin and a blush.


End file.
